Chapter 17: Getting Along With Zhu Was Quite Pleasant
Lu Zhiyin woke up to find it was already dusk.
The infirmary lights were off, and the sound of rain outside continued to patter non-stop.
The rain was still falling, and Lu Zhiyin still couldn’t see her way forward.
In the pitch-black infirmary, Lu Zhiyin reached out her hand. Her head was pounding, and she didn’t know where she was or who had brought her here.
Her memory stopped at the darkness when she fainted in the rain. Fortunately, her body didn’t hurt much, and she didn’t feel anything strange. Her chastity, presumably, was still intact.
Fear and regret washed over her. Lu Zhiyin thought she shouldn’t have been so stubborn and gone out. She had gotten a bit too carried away.
Although this body had legs, her physical condition was as poor as ever.
“Sigh…”
Sighing, Lu Zhiyin rubbed her forehead. She pushed herself up with the bed surface and sat up with difficulty. The warm towel on her forehead fell off.
“Hiss…”
Her head was splitting, and Lu Zhiyin couldn’t suppress her groan.
“You’re awake?”
Hearing Lu Zhiyin’s voice, Zhu Qing turned on the infirmary light.
She stood up and walked to Lu Zhiyin’s bedside.
“Zhu Qing…? Senior? Did you help me?”
Recognizing the familiar face and voice, Lu Zhiyin’s mind was a bit blank. She almost forgot to maintain her persona.
“Thank you.”
She forced a smile.
Zhu Qing frowned. The girl’s smile was indeed moving, but a smile shouldn’t constantly be plastered on someone’s face.
Zhu Qing didn’t think there was anything to be happy about right now.
She felt a sense of incongruity but said nothing.
After all, she only knew the person in front of her. She would actively help anyone she saw in trouble, but she wouldn’t pry and get herself into more trouble.
“You don’t need to thank me. It’s what I should do. We’re all classmates, so we should help each other.”
Shaking her head, she temporarily disappeared from Lu Zhiyin’s sight.
Zhu Qing was a bit tired. After taking Lu Zhiyin back to the infirmary, she sent another injured student back to the dormitory, took a shower, changed her clothes, and then started shuttling between the library and the infirmary.
Looking after the library was a duty she couldn’t give up, and Lu Zhiyin had a high fever, requiring someone to frequently change the towels used to cool her down.
Zhu Qing couldn’t just watch Lu Zhiyin burn up, nor could she forget her responsibilities. In the end, she could only run back and forth, tiring herself out.
While thinking about random things, Zhu Qing helped Lu Zhiyin prepare her cold medicine.
“Mmm…”
Lu Zhiyin didn’t know what Zhu Qing was doing. Her mind was still a mess, and her head was hurting badly.
“While I shouldn’t really accept Senior’s help, I can’t just take it for granted. Senior Zhu Qing, I’ll treat you to a meal another day.”
Lu Zhiyin made the invitation.
She felt a little pained for her wallet, but she decided to seize this opportunity to deepen their relationship.
Not knowing what the future held, she still had to press on haltingly. If she gave up now, all her past efforts would be naught but meaningless bubbles.
She thought, this might be what they call sunk cost.
“No need.”
Zhu Qing shook her head.
She brought the prepared medicine and sat on the chair beside Lu Zhiyin’s bed, handing the medicine to Lu Zhiyin.
“Drink this, Lu Shiyu. After finishing your medicine, you should go back to your dormitory. It’s getting late, and I should go home too.”
As the Principal’s daughter, Zhu Qing had dormitory facilities at school, but she still preferred to live at home.
“Thank you.”
Thanking her again, Lu Zhiyin took the disposable paper cup and drank the medicine sips.
Zhu Qing had also been rained on. She calculated the time; it had been several hours since she last took medicine. She also prepared a cup of medicine for herself and sat next to Lu Zhiyin, coincidentally drinking the medicine in silence.
“…”
The paper cup in her hand radiated warmth. Lu Zhiyin sipped the slightly bitter medicine little by little.
With Zhu Qing, Lu Zhiyin experienced a rare moment of pure kindness.
Should she smile now? She didn’t know. Lu Zhiyin realized she couldn’t smile from the heart anymore.
“You’re welcome. Speaking of which, why were you out alone in the rain, Lu Shiyu? And you fainted.”
Zhu Qing waved her hand and asked Lu Zhiyin the reason for her outing.
“Um… In the morning, I took a friend out. When I returned to school, I got caught in the rain and caught a cold. Afterwards, I planned to go to work at the restaurant where I have a part-time job. I didn’t expect to overestimate myself and fainted while walking.”
Holding the warm medicine in her hands, Lu Zhiyin didn’t pretend this time. She simply recounted her experience calmly.
“Working part-time? News about your friend has been circulating throughout the school during this period. I thought you were also born into a wealthy family like her.”
Sighing softly, Zhu Qing couldn’t help but recall the resilient figure in her memory who overcame her disability. The girl in front of her was indeed luckier than the person in her memory, at least her legs were sound.
Thinking this, Zhu Qing nodded.
“Hmm… It’s not likely, no matter how you think about it. Just by your aura, I don’t match up to that person at all.”
Unknowingly, the topic shifted to Ouyang Qing.
Lu Zhiyin was self-aware. Although she disliked Ouyang Qing, the aura that someone who had been in a high position for a long time possessed was indeed something Lu Zhiyin lacked and couldn’t imitate at all.
Talking about Ouyang Qing, Lu Zhiyin lost interest in conversation. She finished the medicine in her cup.
The chat with Zhu Qing was pleasant, but all conversations eventually come to an end.
Lu Zhiyin pushed herself off the bed and put on her shoes and socks.
Unlike the dry clothes she was wearing, her shoes and socks were still wet. Even Zhu Qing couldn’t be attentive to every single detail all the time.
The coldness on her feet pulled Lu Zhiyin out of the relatively pleasant interaction she had just experienced.
She glanced at the hem of her clothes, which were too long, and realized she was wearing Zhu Qing’s school uniform.
Looking around, she spotted her clothes, packed in a plastic bag, on a cabinet not far away.
Taking her clothes, Lu Zhiyin bowed to Zhu Qing.
“Alright, Senior Zhu Qing, I need to go back to work at the restaurant now.”
She said with a wry smile.
She couldn’t afford not to work, otherwise, she wouldn’t even have food to eat.
Her head was still a bit groggy, but it was much better than when she was unconscious or just waking up. At least she wouldn’t fall again.
“Mhm, keep up the good work, Lu Shiyu.”
Zhu Qing waved goodbye to her, offering a bit of encouragement.
“Yes, I’ll do my best. I’ll wash your clothes and return them to you later. Once I save up some money, I’ll treat you to a meal.”
Lu Zhiyin still hadn’t given up on the idea of treating Zhu Qing to a meal to strengthen their bond.
This time, Zhu Qing found it hard to refuse. She had already declined several times, and refusing again would be impolite.
After a slight hesitation, Zhu Qing quickly came up with a solution. She decided that when the girl truly came to find her, she could pay for her own meal. As long as she paid fast enough, there shouldn’t be any problem.
“Okay, I’ll be waiting for you then.”
With this thought, Zhu Qing watched Lu Zhiyin pick up the umbrella by the door and leave the infirmary.
Zhu Qing herself stayed in the infirmary for a while longer. Only after she finished her medicine at a leisurely pace did she unhurriedly depart.
